Bouncing back from a 1-5 rocky start, the women's softball team has been red hot this past week, riding a five game winning streak with two wins each against Trinity and University of Maine-Farmington as well as one against University of Southern Maine (USM) before it was brought to a halt with a loss in the second game against USM.
The Bears played host to USM last night and controlled the game offensively, scoring double-digit runs en route to an 11-6 win.
The game featured a stellar pitching performance by Karen Reni '09, who gave up only one earned run over the seven-inning game. Reni walked two while fanning three.
On the offensive front, six of the nine Polar Bear hitters had two or more hits in the game, with leadoff hitter Kaitee Daley '09 going three for three with two runs scored.
The Bears were not quite as fortunate in the second matchup, falling 6-3 to the Huskies.
Sophomore pitcher Julia Jacobs pitched a complete game, giving up six runs over seven innings, though only two were earned as the Polar Bears committed three errors.
At the plate, the Bears could not quite manage the same sort of success as they had in the first game, only coming up with eight hits and three runs.
On Friday, the Bears battled the Bantams in the season's first game on Pickard Field. After allowing four runs in the first inning and a half, the Bears would bounce back with three runs of their own, thanks to both sophomore Lauren Coven's second inning RBI single, knocking in Claire Ronan '10, and runs in the third from both Daley and Shavonne Lord '10.
While the team would garner two more runs in the fifth, the Polar Bears would ultimately drop the game 7-5.
Not giving up, however, the Bears captured both games of Saturday's doubleheader. In the first game, Bowdoin attacked first as Ronan again opened the team's scoring with an RBI single, scoring Ali Coleman '09 in the second.
Ronan would also score that inning, giving the Polar Bears a 2-0 lead. Both teams would exchange runs in the third, as Lord knocked in Daley with an RBI double. Trinity would go on to tie the game in the top of the sixth but Bowdoin would score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the inning, holding onto a 4-3 victory. Reni had two strikeouts, pitching all seven innings.
While the Bantams opened game two with a 2-0 lead, the Bears would respond with a four-run fourth inning, which Coleman began with a two-run home run. The Bears would score one more in the sixth, winning the game 5-2. Jacobs fanned eight Bantams in the win.
"I think we learned from our loss against Trinity on Friday and came to the field on Saturday ready to compete with confidence from the very first pitch," Daley said. "We also had a lot of people step up and get hits or make plays when we needed them. I think the feeling of handing Trinity their first pair of NESCAC losses will definitely carry over."
Jacobs would come up big again on Wednesday, allowing just four hits and striking out five, as the Bears shut out UMaine Farmington in the teams' first matchup, 6-0. Bowdoin's offense struck early with a two-run first off RBI singles from Coleman and Coven. The team scored four more in the third off RBIs from Coven, Lord, and captain Kate Chin '08.
The Polar Bears went on to sweep Farmington with a 10-5 victory in game two. Ronan had another big game, knocking in five Bowdoin runs. Reni struck out five batters.
All in all, the Bears are glad to be able to play on their home turf.
"Although a lot of us enjoyed the comfy beds at the Marriot in Burlington, I think we're all happy to be out of the field house and playing on our own field," Daley said. "As Dorothy says, there's no place like home!"
The team has a busy schedule next week, facing three different opponents. On Monday, the Bears will play host to Bates at 4:30 p.m. to finish off the three game series postponed earlier in the season. The next day, Bowdoin will travel to the University of New England for a two game series (3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.). On Thursday, the Polar Bears will square off against rival Colby at 4:30 p.m at home.